These Games
by ObsidianJade
Summary: Reincarnation is a funny thing. You wind up playing the same old games... Ancient Egypt, One shot, SxJ and DMxCG. Yaoi.


S: (strolls into the story room and looks around, surprised not to find her Yami and however-many other people present) …Onyx? If you're trying to give me a surprise party, you're off by five months…

(crickets chirp)

S: (sighs) Never mind. I probably don't want to know what she's got planned anyway. Let's get on with this, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor, likely, will I ever own, Yu-Gi-Oh. I can't draw, but I do know Egyptian theology better than they do. So ha!

Warnings: Uhm, **YAOI**, moderately explicit, descriptions of lemon (no actual action though, sorry…) This one comes closer to an 'M' rating than most of what I write, but it's still quite safe.

THESE GAMES

Snarling to himself, the High Priest Seto stormed out of the palace, past the great pots that littered the edge of the hallways. He heard a faint giggle from one and ignored it – it would only be Mana, the young girl that Mahado was struggling to train as a sorceress.

_Mahado!_ Seto clenched his teeth so tight his jaw ached. Gods curse that man!

How foolish was Mahado, to think that no one would see him slipping off to the guard barracks when he was finished licking the Pharaoh's feet? Did he honestly think his meetings with the guard captain Emrys went unobserved? They were so incautious it was a wonder the entirety of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms were not gossiping about them!

Even Seto had come across them, once, half-hidden in an alcove in the palace. He could recall, with stunning and painful clarity, the rippling of the muscles beneath bronzed skin, the mahogany silk of Mahado's long hair mingling with the brilliant gold of Emrys' locks, the low, stifled moans of passion the two men shared.

Seto's scowl deepened further at the memory, and further still when his own body reveled in it. He tried to will his excitement away and failed.

Priests in service to the Pharaoh and the Gods were supposed to be pure in spirit and body, their heads shaven clean and covered instead with gilded headcloths or oiled wigs. But Mahado, Pharaoh's favorite, kept his own hair, that rare rich brown flow of silk that Seto knew fell almost to his slender hips. (Of course, Seto too had kept his hair, that distinctive chestnut mane that he bore proudly. For his patron god, Seth the Killer, was also red-haired, and the servants of the palace whispered that Seto was the god incarnate) Without his heavy robes, wearing nothing save his armbands and the greaves on his wrists – even the great Ring was set aside for their trysts – Mahado's body was so slender as to be almost womanly, while the man writhing beneath him was broad-shouldered and powerful as a great war horse.

"May the devourers feast on his soul!" Seto snarled, kicking away a stone that had strayed into his path.

"Mahado is with Emrys again, I take it?"

Seto straightened with a jerk. Somehow, in his anger, he had walked from the House of a Million Years, the Palace of the Pharaoh, all the way to the Temple of Anubis without thought. Now, he glared fiercely at the one who dared to interrupt his anger.

"Why do you believe that?" Seto demanded, kicking another stone and wounding his toe on it, as he wore only sandals.

"Because," came the smug reply, "you are only this angry under two circumstances. The first is when Devine Pharaoh has beaten you in a duel, and the second is when Mahado is with Emrys. And as Ishizu walked through here on her way to the Temple of Isis, she would have mentioned had you dueled Devine Pharaoh. As she said nothing, I know that is not the case." Looking insolent, Ounosu strode forward, pushing his golden hair out of his glittering amber eyes. Ounosu was the Dog Master, caretaker to the Sacred Pack, the wild dogs held sacred by the jackal- god of the dead, Anubis. He was also the only person in the entire city who was ever downright rude to Seto – even when the Pharaoh jested with his High Priest, he did so with some degree of respect!

"I'm not in the mood for your games, Ounosu. Leave me."

Ounosu snorted slightly. He was very like Emrys of the guard in his appearance, as both had bright amber eyes and impossibly rare golden hair. Emrys, however, was a warrior, and bore strange tattoos beneath his eyes; Ounosu was a dog-keeper and nothing more. Both men denied relation, although their fair hair was uncommon in the Kingdoms.

Shaking his head, Seto made to walk past the dog-master, but the man fell in beside him, much to Seto's annoyance.

"Why does it bother you so? I know it isn't the issue of purity – every night there is a different pretty body in your bed. Perhaps you are just jealous?"

"Leave me, Ounosu! I do not wish to play these games tonight."

"That is it, then? You are jealous, jealous of Mahado for having Emrys? Or are you jealous of Emrys, taking Mahado into him as a mare does a stallion?"

Snarling, Seto lashed out at the dog-master, trying to catch him with a backhanded blow across the face. The man was too nimble, though, and dodged away, snickering.

"Is that it, son of Seth? Seto, High Priest in service to Devine Pharaoh, wants to be bent over and taken like a - "

WHAP!

This time, Seto's blow did not miss, and Ounosu fell sideways against the hard-packed sand. He did not seem deterred, though. Lifting his head, he smirked up at the fuming priest.

"Maybe I wasn't thinking broadly enough? It's not Mahado and Emrys in particular; just the desire to take or be taken?"

Seto flushed dully on the last words and Ounosu made a noise deep in his throat.

"That is it, isn't it? You want someone to take you! Are you afraid to give up that much control, Seto Ice-Blooded?"

"Ounosu - "

"Who do you want to take you, Seto? Not Mahado, certainly, you do despise him… Devine Pharaoh, perhaps? Though I would think you would want someone to match your stature… someone powerful enough to dominate you…"

Seto stared down at the man sprawled on the ground before him, clad in nothing but a leather kilt, sandals, and greaves, his golden hair in disarray. Ounosu was strong and powerfully built, broad-shouldered and lean, with muscles rippling beneath his golden skin. In Seto's mind, Mahado and Emrys flashed again, but their positions were reversed – Emrys' powerful form now covering Mahado's smaller one, yet Mahado's mahogany hair had turned to chestnut…

"Ounosu, come," Seto ordered abruptly, dragging the man to his feet. "I'm going to put that flapping mouth of yours to good use."

Ounosu grinned, sliding his hand down the back of Seto's elaborate robes to grasp his firm behind. "I thought you were too tired for my games, Priest?"

Snarling, Seto wound his fingers into Ounosu's golden mane, jerking his head back to expose the golden throat to the ravages of his mouth. "I'm through playing – mutt."

OOOOOOOOOOO

If you have any questions concerning Egyptian references in this chapter, feel free to review. I'll make sure I respond as soon as I get them. I would have cited the more obscure ones, but if I went into detail, the endnotes would have been longer than the story. Please review even if you don't have questions, even if it's just to tell me you liked it, or _why_ you didn't.

Thanks!


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